The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index advanced 0.9
percent to 455.89 as of 7:14 p.m. in Hong Kong, completing a 2.8
percent gain this week. The Asian equities measure that includes
Japan added 0.2 percent to 135.42, paring gains of as much as
0.7 percent.

“We remain positive on risk assets and don’t see any
reason to pull back,” Manpreet Gill, a Singapore-based senior
investment strategist at Standard Chartered Bank, said by phone.
“Economic data in the U.S. hasn’t been brilliant but the
overall uptrend hasn’t really changed. Things need to become
materially worse before we change our view on equities. Chinese
inflation isn’t a worry as monetary policy there remains pretty
tight.”

A report today showed China’s consumer-price increases
stayed subdued in January while factory-gate prices extended the
longest drop since the 1990s, in a sign of moderating demand in
the world’s second-largest economy.

Equities Rebound

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed back after losing 4.6
percent in January, its worst start since 2009, amid concern
about Federal Reserve stimulus cuts, a slowdown in China and
volatility in developing markets. Global equity losses in 2014
peaked at $3 trillion on Feb. 4 and have since narrowed to about
$511 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“It seems reasonable to start looking at bargains in the
emerging markets,” said George Boubouras, who helps oversee $30
billion as chief investment officer at Equity Trustees Ltd. in
Melbourne.“The selloff has been extraordinary.”

China Data

China’s Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) gained 0.8 percent. The
nation’s consumer price index rose 2.5 percent from a year
earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today in
Beijing, the same pace as in December. The producer-price index
fell 1.6 percent.

Japan’s Topix index slipped 1.3 percent, erasing gains of
as much as 0.8 percent, as the yen strengthened.

“We’re lacking in catalysts now,” said Juichi Wako, a
Tokyo-based equity market strategist at Nomura Holdings Inc.,
the nation’s biggest brokerage. “Investors very much want to
see how U.S. economic data pans out.”

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell less than
0.1 percent. The equities gauge climbed 0.6 percent yesterday as
a $45.2 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable Inc. outweighed
the biggest drop in retail sales since June 2012.

Receipts at U.S. retailers unexpectedly declined 0.4
percent in January amid bad weather and uneven progress in the
labor market, a report showed yesterday, signaling the economy
was off to a slow start this year. Jobless claims increased by
8,000 to 339,000 in the week ended Feb. 8.

Relative Value

Shares on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index trade at 12.7 times
estimated earnings compared with 15.5 for the S&P 500 and 14.3
for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg.

Of the 352 companies on the Asian measure that have
reported quarterly earnings since the beginning of January and
for which estimates are available, 54 percent beat profit
expectations, Bloomberg-compiled data show.

Shandong Weigao (1066) jumped 6.4 percent to HK$9.91 in Hong Kong,
posting its second weekly advance. The shares are rebounding
after slumping 13 percent last month when the company said it
expects a “significant” decline in profit for 2013.

Tencent, Novatek

Tencent climbed 1.6 percent to HK$548.50 in Hong Kong, a
record close. Jefferies maintained its buy rating and raised its
share-price forecast by 34 percent to HK$660, saying it expects
the company’s revenue from online games to increase this year.

Novatek Microelectronics Corp. (3034) climbed 3.9 percent to
NT$133 in Taipei in Taipei after Cathay Futures Corp. said it
sees the integrated circuits business rebounding in the second
quarter.

Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN), Australia’s biggest carrier, climbed
2.5 percent to A$1.215, taking weekly gains to 14 percent, the
most since June 2012. The shares rallied this week as the Sydney
Morning Herald reported that Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey
said Qantas met pre-conditions for government support.

Among stocks that fell, Kirin Holdings dropped 9.2 percent
to 1,293 yen in Tokyo, the most since March 2011. Net income
will probably fall 43 percent to 49 billion yen ($482 million)
this year, the company said in a statement yesterday. That
compares with the 60.6 billion yen average of 13 analysts’
estimates compiled by Bloomberg.